Nearly 31 yrs after he admittedly gave drugs and alcohol to a 13 yr old girl for the purpose of raping her, Roman Polanski is now in custody. He fled the US for the country of France, who would never extradite him, and even today, their leaders, along with Poland are calling out for his release. I find it repulsive that international leaders are calling for his release, when he ADMITTEDLY committed the crime and has never paid for it. Do those countries permit adult men to rape 13 yr olds with no consequence?

Roman Polanski in part rose to fame when his young pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson family. Not that he wasn't famous before that - he is a well-renowned film producer, making movies such as Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, and The Pianist - just to name a few. After her murder, he left the US for several years, coming back for the production of Chinatown, in which film he enlisted the talented Jack Nicholson. It was in Nicholson's home that this child-rape happened, after Polanski drugged her, and gave her champagne. Nicholson was not home at the time.

His victim, Samantha Geimer, would now be in her mid-40's and has joined the defense team in having all charges against Polanski dropped, which even as recently as May of this year were denied. She had this to say about Polanski: "I don't really have any hard feelings toward him (Polanski), or any sympathy, either," she wrote in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. "What he does for a living and how good he is at it have nothing to do with me or what he did to me." She goes on to say that he should be allowed to return to the US, and should be forgiven.

Forgiven? Sure, by all means - forgive him - but forgiveness doesn't equate to innocence, and therefore doesn't excuse him for paying the penaly for breaking the law. What he did was horrible - I don't care how famous or rich he is, it doesn't excuse what he did to her. Forgiveness of a crime doesn't mean that the payment for that crime has been made. He should be held to the same letter of the law that all other American's are - or anyone else living in this country, for that matter, citizen or not.

Polanski knew what personal tragedy was - he lost his young pregnant wife to a violent murder, and yet he imposed himself on a young girl and in turn stole her innocence, and no doubt gave her a personal tragedy of her own to live with for the rest of her life. I hope that justice is served at last.

Wow, Tish, I completely understand (and agree) with your feeling on this. It's horrible that there are actually some who think he should get away with his crimes. I can understand his victims response though. She's probably fed up and the easiest way for her to come to grips with what was done to her, is to forgive. This way, in her mind, if he does get off without paying for his crime, it will be easier in her mind to deal with it. I would imagine that she does secretly, wish for him to pay though. Sometimes, it''s just easier for someone to let it go, than to carry the hate in their hearts. That's just my opinion.

_________________We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly

What makes leaders of these other countries think that Polanski shouldn't face trial and pay for his crimes? I don't know how these countries look at rape of underage girls, but it is still a crime here in the U.S. where the rape took place. I have no idea why his victim would want the charges dropped. I really hope justice is served.

If the victim wants to forgive him - that's fine - that's only something she can do - and it's an internal thing - as we all know what forgiveness is - but forgiveness is by no means letting the guy off the hook - there is still consequences to be paid for his actions, regardless of how the victim feels now about her perp. Think of all the victims out there who have stockholm syndrome (even possibly jaycee dugard) who may not want the perp to pay for their crimes - just because they decide not to press charges or because they go to the judge to get the perps case dismissed doesn't mean he's innocent, therefore cleared of all charges... It also irritates me, like you, j4a - about the leaders of these other CIVILIZED countries who apparently don't see anything wrong with what he did - first to commit the crime, and then to be a fugitive for 30+ plus yrs.... I just wanted to vent again, thanks :)

I can't understand why so many people are making his talent as a Producer/Director an issue. That has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he is a pedophile. The only reason he wasn't sent to prison is because he fled the country like a coward. How his victim can forgive him is beyond me. He needs to pay for what he did, and the fact that it was so long ago should have nothing to do with it. This makes me wonder about the morality and mentality of actors & actresses.

Debra Tate, the sister of Roman Polanski's second wife, actress Sharon Tate, says Polanski is brilliant and a "good guy" and she doesn't think her former brother-in-law can get a fair trial in the United States.

Tate told NBC television Wednesday that the U.S. justice system is broken.

PHOTOS: Anatomy of a Sex Scandal.

Polanski was arrested Saturday in Zurich. The U.S. has been seeking his extradition for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

May 2007: Director Roman Polanski arrives for the screening of the film "No Country For Old Men," at the 60th International film festival in Cannes.

Tate says Polanski did not forcibly have sex with the girl, calling it a "consensual matter."

Sharon Tate was murdered in Los Angeles in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson. She was eight months pregnant.

Debra Tate says it's been a devastating few weeks for her, with her sister's killer, Susan Atkins, dying Sept. 24 and now her late sister's husband jailed.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,557824,00.html

It just sickens me that ANYONE can say it was "consensual"! WTH? What 13 yr old can give consent for sex?

_________________We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly

It sickens me to see how many celebrities are defending Roman Polanski. How can any normal person say that sex with a 13 old is "consensual"? What in Hell is wrong with these people? Maybe they're all brain dead.

i am so furious over whoopi's comments about how this wasn't "rape rape" but was a consensual act - a 13 yr old CANNOT have consensual sex - that is why there are LAWS protecting them, because they don't think clearly, and cannot make those kind of decisions for themselves - but regardless of that issue, from her OWN testimony the girl was clearly scared of polanski, she REPEATEDLY told him no, she LIED to him to try to get away from him, and her testimony is just heart-wrenching...here is the trial transcript...http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskicover1.html

here are the irresponsible, and ignorant comments from whoopi goldberg (who is apparently illiterate since she can't seem to get her FACTS straight - more irresponsible journalism) http://www.inentertainment.co.uk/20091001/whoopi-goldberg-on-roman-polanski-controversy/

and for anyone interested - here is the list of ppl who signed the petition in polanski's favor: http://www.indiewire.com/article/2009/09/29/over_100_in_film_community_sign_polanski_petition/P1/

and for anyone who decides to boycott - Polanski's latest film which he just finished producing is called The Ghost - I won't be seeing it as I do not wish to contribute to his defense funds...

Thank you for posting these links Tish. We had a few posts in the "Daily News" section that I merged over here in this thread.

I won't be seeing his movie either. I think it's repulsive that ANYONE would stick up for this sick bastard! I doubt very much that I'll be watching anything that any of his minions put out either. It's unbelievable that ANYONE would condone this behavior. WTH is wrong with them? Do none of these people have children, sisters or mothers? What if it was one of their relatives? Or even themselves? It makes me completely ill.

_________________We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly

Roman Polanski deserves whatever happens to him. There are no excuses for what he did to a 13 year old girl. He is a pervert & pedophile. I can't help but wonder if his wife, Sharon, knew about his sick appetite. People like him make me

(Reuters) - Lawyers for Roman Polanski filed an appeal on Thursday demanding the fugitive film director be sentenced in California for a decades-old sex crime even as he remains under house arrest in Switzerland.

They said Polanski was entitled under California law to be sentenced without returning in person to Los Angeles on a charge of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Polanski, 76, fled California in 1978 and was arrested in September 2009 in Switzerland. The Oscar-winning director of "The Pianist" is currently confined to his home in the ski resort of Gstaad fighting extradition to the United States.

A Los Angeles judge in January rejected Polanski's request to be sentenced in absentia, and insisted he appear in court.

Polanski's lawyers have been fighting to have the unlawful sex case dropped, alleging judicial misconduct in the original legal proceedings when the judge considered sentencing.

Until this newest legal salvo, it was believed that those allegations were first revealed in a 2008 film documentary about Polanski. But Polanski's attorneys said recent testimony from a key player in 1977 reveals prosecutors knew of the misconduct from the start and concealed it from the defense.

"Now to hear, through entirely new evidence, that high level deputy district attorneys in the summer of 1977 learned of misconduct by the judge in this case and never told the defense about it, that's inexcusable," Polanski's lawyer Douglas Dalton said in a statement.

Polanski pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in 1977 but skipped bail and fled to France before being sentenced fearing that the judge would renege on an agreement limiting his punishment to the 42 days he had already spent behind bars for psychiatric evaluation.

His lawyers have said Polanski does not wish to return for sentencing because he does not trust the Los Angeles courts.

SWISS OFFICIALS who refused to extradite director Roman Polanski to the United States to face punishment for a long-ago sex crime said they didn't have enough information. Maybe they neglected to read the undisputed testimony of a 13-year-old detailing how Mr. Polanski drugged, raped and sodomized her. Maybe they overlooked the transcript of Mr. Polanski's court hearing in which, pleading guilty to a lesser charge, he acknowledged knowing his victim had yet to turn 14. Or perhaps they missed his unsettling explanation to probation officers of how sex with the girl "was very spontaneous." Maybe in Switzerland the law is not offended when a criminal flees before sentencing.

The Swiss Justice Ministry announced Monday that it was denying the U.S. request for extradition and that Mr. Polanski, who had been under house arrest, was free. As part of a plea agreement with Los Angeles prosecutors, Mr. Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl to satisfy far more serious charges of rape and sodomy; he fled the country in 1978 when he feared the sentencing judge might send him to jail. The director, acclaimed for his filmmaking skills, lived with impunity abroad until he flew to Switzerland to pick up an award in September and California authorities seized the opportunity to seek his extradition. His native France, where he lives, does not extradite its citizens.

The Swiss rejection of the U.S. request, which cannot be appealed, was a surprise. The government grants the vast majority of extradition petitions, and even Mr. Polanski's lawyer said the decision was "not expected." Switzerland Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf blamed U.S. authorities for failing to provide confidential testimony about sentencing procedures used at the time of the case. This technicality essentially proved a convenient excuse for a Swiss government caught up in a wave of protest from European intellectual and political figures sympathetic to Mr. Polanski. French Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterand said that Mr. Polanski was being "thrown to the lions for an old story that doesn't really many any sense." He's made terrific movies, in other words; he's one of us; why can't the Americans get past this obsession with holding child rapists accountable?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/12/AR2010071204449.htmlI'm sickened by this, but not really surprised. The European politicians don't seem to want him held accountable for his sick actions.

For many years I worked for a company, whose owner lived in Switzerland. He said he did not see anything wrong with a man having sex with a young girl. He was 50 years old when he married his 3rd wife, who was only 18 years old. He brought her to the USA two years previously, when she was only 16. That marriage did not last but about 3 years, but he did not see anything wrong with it.

_________________"Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven" -----Henry Ward Beecher

(Newser) – One person of note disagrees with US prosecutors' decision to keep going after Roman Polanski—his victim. "Enough is enough," Samantha Geimer tells the Los Angeles Times. "This matter should have been resolved 33 years ago." Geimer, who had sex with Polanski as a 13-year-old in 1977, says Polanski isn't a threat to anyone. "At 76 years old? I don't think so."

Geimer has reached a civil-suit settlement with Polanski and thinks the Swiss decision not to extradite him should end things once and for all. "People say I have ulterior motives," she says, referring to the settlement. "That doesn't make it true. I've felt this way from the beginning."

he may never serve his time here, but one day he will - justice will be served, regardless of what the opinion is of the victim. What he did was wrong. I'm glad that she was able to deal w/ her situation and that she got over it and wants it all to go away - but it still doesn't make what he did RIGHT - and that's what the issue is... he ran from the law, plain and simple, cut and dry...

He shouldn't be left alone now just because it has been 33 years, regardless of what the victim thinks... It wasn't her against Roman Polanski. She was a minor. He broke the law... and he should pay... no matter how many years later it is.